Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sounded the alarm Sunday about a surge in crossings at the southern border if a Trump-era immigration policy is allowed to expire this week.
The Republican governor cited public health concerns for why courts should intervene and prevent the policy, known as Title 42, from ending, which was implemented under former President Donald Trump amid concerns about the pandemic.
“If the courts don’t intervene and put a halt to the removal of Title 42, it’s going to be total chaos,” Mr. Abbott said on ABC’s “This Week.” “Whether it’s COVID or some other issue, when you have people coming across the globe without knowing at all what their health status is, that almost by definition is a public health risk. There’s every reason to keep that in place.”
Critics have accused Republicans of hypocrisy for wanting to end pandemic-era rules while at the same time wanting to keep Title 42 in place, which limits the number of asylum seekers and allows the U.S. to more quickly deport migrants.
Mr. Abbott rejected that criticism and placed blame on the Biden administration for not enforcing immigration policies.
“It was known from the time that Joe Biden got elected that Joe Biden supported open borders. It is known by the cartels who have sophisticated information whether or not the Biden administration is going to enforce the immigration laws or not is known across the world but most importantly, known among the cartels,” he said. “We have every level of government doing everything we can to prevent people from coming into the country illegally or repelling them or arresting them and putting them behind bars.”
SEE ALSO: West Texas buckling under influx of migrants near El Paso
Rep. Chip Roy accused Democrats on Sunday of using migrants as “political pawns” amid a surge of crossings at the U.S. southern border as a Trump-era immigration policy limiting asylum seekers is set to expire.
“Democrats want to simply throw more money at the border and then process more human beings while they’re getting abused,” Mr. Roy, Texas Republican, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They’re the ones using them as political pawns for their crass political purposes. They’re using the Hispanic community.”
Title 42 is set to expire Wednesday. Illegal border crossings, already at all-time highs, are expected to increase.
The influx of migrants led to the mayor of El Paso, Texas, to declare a state of emergency Saturday.
Mr. Roy suggested Democrats lack “interest in actually working to try and secure the border.”
“[It] means turning people away, and detaining them rather than processing and releasing them,” he said.
SEE ALSO: GOP Rep. Chip Roy accuses Dems of using migrants as ‘political pawns’
Meanwhile, Sen. Sherrod Brown predicted one of the benefits of having Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate is bipartisan immigration reform, a popular talking point for members of Congress but one that lawmakers rarely pass legislation on because of partisan gridlock.
“Maybe with this new Republican House and Democratic Senate, we finally get serious about immigration reform and quit demagoguing this issue by pointing fingers and say that the disaster is about to happen,” the Ohio Democrat said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think that the administration will figure this out, short-term, but it’s clear we’ve got to get serious as a body, and it’s going to take both parties. Instead of trying to gain on bashing immigrants or gain on appealing to new citizens, we’ve got to get serious about that.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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